Pat Bean's blog

Or a Cowboy Hat

   “Whatever you do today, do it with the confidence of a four-year-old wearing a Batman T-shirt.” I came across this quote while reading my email recently. I don’t know who said it, but the words say everything you need to know about having confidence.

It wasn’t a Batman T-shirt but a stick horse and a cowboy hat that gave me confidence when I was very young playing a battle game with the neighborhood gang. My weapons were the small pea-size green chinaberries from the tree in my grandmother’s backyard, and I remember flinging them with great energy as I raced back and forth into enemy territory, which was just the other side of a ditch. My comrade was the sister of the two brothers who were our enemies. We had all the confidence needed to rule the world.

 This was a time when kids were sent out to play unsupervised with only the instructions to be inside the house before dark. I don’t think most kids today have this kind of freedom – and so must find other ways to shore up their own confidence.

But gaining confidence as a child doesn’t always mean one will take it with you into adulthood. I didn’t.

I made some bad choices, and then felt stuck with them. I let others take over my life. It wasn’t until the threshold of the 1980s that I started reclaiming that childhood confidence, I can’t help but think that, like it or not, I became a better role model for my children, especially my daughters, when I did.

I know, from many years of experience, that education and skills are important. But I also know that having the confidence that one can achieve a dream is the first step to making it come true. So, believe in yourself and begin your journey by perhaps wearing a Batman T-shirt – or even just a cowboy hat.

Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is a wondering-wanderer, avid reader, enthusiastic birder, Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder, Story Circle Network board member, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), and is always searching for life’s silver lining.